Bernie Says He’d Legalize Marijuana via Executive Order

2020 presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has made marijuana legalization a primary part of his campaign. He said that, if elected president, he would legalize marijuana via executive order.

Sanders is also concerned about how marijuana is grown in the U.S., preferring marijuana not be grown with harmful pesticides and other chemicals, Newsweek reported. He wants licensed companies with ethical growing practices ensuring that Americans are buying nontoxic marijuana.

“When I ran for president for the Democratic nomination in 2016, I talked about a broken criminal justice system, which ends up having in the United States more people in jail than any other country,” said Sanders. “And what I call for then, and I call for now, is the legalization of marijuana in America.”

Sanders agrees that marijuana should not be roped into the same Controlled Substances Act category as heroin and other highly addictive drugs.

He said, “That is insane. Heroin is a killer drug. You can argue the plusses and minuses of marijuana, but marijuana ain’t heroin. So we have to end that and that’s what I will do as President of the United States. I believe we can do that through executive order and I will do that. I think ultimately we have got to legalize marijuana, and what’s good news is some communities, some cities, are expunging the records. So if you were arrested [and] have a criminal record for selling marijuana, that is being expunged. And that is the right thing to do.”